While wishy-washy me is struggling to define what makes a Greatastic Giver, others have taken an aspirational plunge. Bolder Giving was founded by Anne and Christopher Ellinger to inspire us to give at our highest potential, to Give Boldly. They have tons of resources for donors and fundraisers/advisors alike. But the question they attempt to [...]
I was all excited to launch a new section of the blog highlighting fabulous givers. I even did it once. Then I promptly got stuck. Because what makes a giver so fabulous I have to make up random new words and inappropriately capitalize them? What makes a giver Greatastic? Rick Warren and his wife Kay [...]
Tags:It's unclear
Alas, it is inevitable that as soon as a person begins talking about her giving, other charities are gonna catch wind of it. And alas, it is inevitable that they’re gonna get in line to ask. There’s a whole host of reasons to refuse. A charity may do work without any measurable impact (or worse, [...]
Tags:declining a solicitation·how to say no·More counter-intuitive stuff that I promise makes sense·No nada nuthin no-how zip zang zilch
After I made the gifts from the 40 days, I dutifully wrote to each charity something like this: Hello, I just made a gift to You, Important Charity and would like to request that any further communications from you come over email rather than through snail mail or phone. I respond best to emails, and [...]
Tags:Heifer International·Nurse Family Partnership·Philanthropedia·Seriously the CEO wrote me about my $10 donation and I nearly fell out of my chair·The chair should maybe have some sort of guards on the sides
Dear Gentlemen Donors, You guys give lots. And it’s appreciated. But there are occasions when you hand over money to an organization and then behave in a way which immediately negates all the Giftyness of your donation. For example: When you tell President of a nonprofit that you came to donor event “because the staff [...]
Tags:We're all rolling our eyes at you·You're not fooling anyone including your wife
Perla Ni of GreatNonprofits is arguing, along with several others, that church donations should not be tax deductible if the parishioners are on the receiving end of the churches programs. In other words, in if you are a giver, you cannot also be a recipient. Then it’s not a gift. This is the keystone of [...]
Recently my phone rang. The caller ID showed an area code that I know but almost never ever get calls from. It’s the area code for a very rural part of central Ohio. The area code of my alma mater. Kenyon was calling for a gift. I always pick up because I like to hear [...]
Tags:After writing this post I'm gonna need a nap·Sometimes these giving decisions are tough
Funders expect the nonprofits they support to demonstrate impact, prove their effectiveness, all of which makes perfect sense. Even when charities push back, donors still want to know that their dollars are going as far as possible to solve social problems. But. If we as donors expect a charity to take on additional work to [...]
